Sunday, March 31, 2013

This unfortunately is not for the squeamish. But thankfully it was not a close up shot.

Sunday's Elite 8 Matchup between Duke and Louisville was delayed for about 15-minutes in the 1st Half after an absolutely horrific looking injury to Louisville Guard Kevin Ware.

Ware gave maximum effort in trying to block a jumper near the Louisville bench and landed awkwardly.

So awkwardly that when he landed, his shin turned in a direction that it shouldn't.

Again, we want to emphasize, this is NOT close up video of the injury (shot off someone's TV), but if you look closely, you can pretty clearly see it. We are NOT trying to exploit this by reporting it, but his injury is by far THE storyline of the 1st half of this game.

The look on the Louisville players faces said tons.

There are going to be people who question showing this video and it is a legitimate question. But as bad as the injury is and as sad as it was, the injury is now a major storyline in a national event. CBS has already been criticized for showing the replay at all, we disagree with the criticism. It's one thing to show it, it's necessary in order to tell the story and explain what happened. It's something entirely different to take it, show it, run it multiple times and zoom in. CBS did not do that. They focused on a telling the story via the players, fans and Cardinals coach Rick Pitino. We commend them for the way it was handled.

Ware was taken off the court on a stretcher and eventually left the arena via ambulance.

As of this posting, Louisville lead by 3 at the half. The winner of the game will square off with Wichita State at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta next weekend. The Shockers--shocked the world, beating Ohio State Saturday night.

PM UPDATE: Gannett Newspapers and the USA Today caught up with Joe Theismann whose injury on Monday Night Football had become the instant comparison:

"My world just came to a complete stop, it was just a horrible, horrible thing to see happen — I hate to see anybody have an injury that is anywhere near anything like I went through,” Theismann told USA TODAY Sports. “All of a sudden, it’s, ‘Oh my God!’

“It’s a terrible, terrible to see. My prayers go out to him, my heart goes out to him. I know what his family is going through.

“I have every belief that he’s going to be back and better than he was."

The University of Alabama has said former AD Mal Moore died on Saturday at Duke University Medical Center. Moore had been in the Durham, N.C., hospital since March 13 with pulmonary problems.

"The University of Alabama is sad to report that longtime Director of Athletics Mal Moore passed away Saturday at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C. Mr. Moore was 73 years old. Further details will be available later," the athletics department said in a statement.

Moore had been battling pulmonary problems for close to a month. It was announced earlier this week that Moore needed a lung transplant.

Moore was a freshman on Bryant's first Alabama team in 1958, and he played for Bear Bryant's 1961 national championship team. Bill Battle, his teammate, was hired to replace him two days after Moore stepped down on March 20. He was going to be placed in a position as a special adviser to Alabama President Judy Bonner.

Since 1999, the athletics department has made more than $200 million in capital improvements and won national championships in football, gymnastics, softball and women's golf.

After his playing career, he then spent 22 seasons as a coach, including time with Gene Stallings for the St. Louis and Arizona Cardinals.

Here's head football coach Nick Saban talking about Moore ten days ago when he initially stepped down...
((HT: WIAT-TV))

“The investigation into the cause of death is ongoing. Reid was 25 and an incredible son, brother, friend, and professional wrestler. No words can describe the grief that Ric and his family are experiencing and they do request privacy during this devastating time."

SacTown Mayor Kevin Johnson introduced his big guns to keep the Kings in town- Ron Burkle and Mark Mastrov we knew about. Then, he added Vivek Ranadive and Steve Jacobs. Johnson later announced this week that he has received $50 million in corporate sponsorships from an estimated 25 local companies over the next five years to support the arena and franchise...

Sounded good for Sacramento...
But...

Seattle part-interested owner Steve Ballmer bid $15 million earlier this week for minority owner Bob Cook's 7 percent ownership shares in the Kings that are in bankruptcy. That would raise the share of Seattle's interest to 72-percent. But, the Kings' other minority owners have 15 days to match the offer of $15.1-million.

Any of the team's other four minority owners has the right to match that bid in the next 15 days. If one matches the bid, he has priority to buy the shares.

Looks like Mayor KJ has a lot to deal with these days... and that's how he'd like it...

Here's an extended interview on all these updates... it's raw video, so it won't have the expected clean editing...

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Roger Springfield, whose real last name is Cahak, had been charged with four counts of unlawful surveillance in the second degree, a felony. Instead, he pleaded guilty to one count of "unlawful surveillance" and will be required to serve 10 years of probation. But the guilty plea will only work if he is/isn't required to register as a sex offender.

If the court determines that he must register as a sex offender, Cahak's defense has the right to withdraw the plea.

The investigation began when a Syracuse employee found video recorded in a football locker room from a road trip. After more investigating, authorities found video of more than 100 student-athletes on four video tapes in various locker rooms.

Springfield was a local sportscaster who also worked as Syracuse's Director of Media Properties and Productions.
Until he got found out...

Yes, this will be column 8,412,338 on how to fix College Football, because whether you want to admit it or not, the game is broken.

And its all about money and equality--or the lack of it.

We started thinking about this the other day when our alma mater (Georgia Southern) was officially named a member of the Sun Belt Conference and took the leap from 1-AA where we were a perennial title contender, to D-1, where we'll never be one.

Really, that's the crux of the problem here.

College Football has become a game of "Have's" and "Have Not's". And to be totally honest, Division 1 Football SHOULD be broken into 2, or even 3 categories.

If you are still reading this; you probably are asking "Why?"

The thought came to me on Tuesday when an Atlanta area Sports Talk Radio host was making completely uninformed commentary on Georgia Southern's jump. In his world view, you are D-1 "Big Boy" football or you don't exist.

And that's the problem in a nutshell.

The blanket just doesn't fit. It has never fit and it never WILL fit.

It bothered me because I want my school to be able to compete for a "National Title", but now, moving to Division 1, they never will.

They can't. They won't be allowed. And they don't have the talent. Georgia Southern could play Alabama or Ohio State or Georgia or USC 100 times and never beat any of them.

Not once. Not ever.

And that's just wrong. If you are a Division 1 school that can only afford a recruiting budget of $2 million a year, how can you compete against a school that pays their coach that much?

How can you compete against a school with a $10+ million a year recruiting budget?

You can't. You will never get the same athlete's, same coaches or have the same facilities.

Ever.

That's why we say College Football should be broken back up.

The Cartel (BCS Schools) control everything. If you aren't one of them now, you will NEVER be one of them. The nature of the system prevents it.

So let them go it alone. Let them play "Big Boy" Football. Let them be DIVISION 1.

Why not have the 40 or so schools with $10+ million budgets and 70,000-plus seat stadiums and $100 million athletic associations play against each other all the time?

Those schools will and will continue to make briefcases full of money because of that. And even some of those 40 or so schools lose some money trying to keep up.

For a smaller D-1 school, there's no way to make any money.

None.

For Georgia Southern, their travel budget just tripled. There athletic budget, the same. Sure, the students agreed to a $75 person increase in their student fees to subsidize it, but that ain't gonna be enough. For a school with 20,000 students. That's $1.5 million. Add in alumni donations etc and no, you still will never be Georgia.

That's why we want to propose a change. A fairly radical change considering College Football doesn't like such things.

But it needs to be done to give the smaller "Big" schools a chance. A way to compete. A way to have their own title.

Here's our proposal:

Make it a "Sub-NFL" type of thing. 4 Conferences with 10 teams each, top 2 in each go to a playoff and a title. ESPN would pay Billions for it. (Well, actually cable and satellite subscribers would---but that's another story)

It's what the general, unknowledgeable public wants anyway right?

Then take the rest of Division 1 and make them a subset. Take your Sun Belts, your Conference USA's, your MAC's and other conferences and let them play under the old system. Or if you want, the old "Corrupt" bowl system.

But the two groups need to be separate.

And it's for the reason's above. And I'm talking about some surprises. Take your Kentucky's out of the SEC, take your Wake Forests out of the ACC and your Northwestern's out of the Big 10.

Because they'll never win the BCS or whatever they are going to soon call it title.

Ever.

Why should anyone in the Sun Belt have to try and go 12-0, win their conference, win a conference championship game and then pray they MIGHT get invited to a playoff game? And then get killed in said game?

I'm sorry Troy, Central Michigan, Colorado State, North Texas and others, none of you will get to the current College Football playoff....ever.

It's not like this level of football would be totally left out of the TV Money, they wouldn't. Where there used to "1" Sports Network (ESPN), now there are 4 of them. And they need programming.

No, none of these schools would not draw the ratings of a Ohio St/Alabama game, but they wouldn't have to.

Think about this:

College Football in many ways is mirroring the current business climate. CEO's and mega-corporations are making money and getting paid in obscene amounts, but the worker's aren't seeing it.

And the workers will never see it.

We know full well, this will never happen. The NCAA should make it happen if for no other reason than to restore some integrity on some level. But the "Cat" is already out of the bag.

The NCAA doesn't control the College Football playoff system now, and it's out-of-control. Someone needs to reign it back in. Someone needs to make it fair to all.

NHLPA source,expect decision to come before start of playoffs.Gone is Glendale $25M subsidy

It looks like the city is tired of dealing (finally)... the Coyotes are 13th in the west, last in the Pacific, and came into Wednesday losers of four in a row...

They're next to last in attendance figures for home games- only 780 people or so over the Islanders- at just under 80-percent capacity.

Here was the Greg Jamison speech in front of the Glendale City Council back in November...

And the initial introduction of Jamison by Commissioner Gary Bettman as the savior du jour during the playoffs last season...

But, then, surprising no one really... everything hit a snag... and Jamison would never announce who his partners are/were as of a month ago...everything crapped out... Jamison was supposedly working on a new deal, but there's nothing imminent...
((HT: ABC15))

So, remember where we were last month... two months ago... last year...???
Well, we're back to where we started... only thing is JoJo is in Tucson...

Hey, they were close...

Thursday Update: Per OSG Sources in Arizona, AltaCorp Capital chairman & CEO George Gosbee is working with Anthony LeBlanc on @NHL_Coyotes purchase... so, we're back there...

Yep. Ice Edge is back with Gosbee- for those of you unfamiliar: Gosbee founded AltaCorp Capital, a new Canadian investment bank in 2010. As well, he is co-chair of AIMCo (Alberta Investment Management corp), a $70 billion investment fund. Sportsnet's John Shannon thinks a proposal could be done by the beginning of next week after the Easter holiday.

After being listed as a healthy scratch in tonight's game versus Colorado, Calgary Flames legend Jarome Iginla left the Saddledomer arena to avoid any kind of circus that could occur in line with an impending trade to Boston for Boston prospect Alexander Khokhlachev (who is a scratch for Providence tonight), Matt Bartkowski, and a #1 pick.

Iginla had played in 441 straight games for the Flames before tonight, the first game he missed in almost six seasons.

David Pagnotta over @TheFourthPeriod is saying that the Bruins could have an announcement after their game with Montreal. But eyewitnesses in Calgary are saying that Flames GM Jay Feaster was seen walking the halls with his head down- looking like someone kicked his dog...

It's reminiscent of when the Boston Bruins traded Ray Bourque to Colorado- trying to get a hero a solid and give him the chance to win a Stanley Cup before his career is through.
((HT: ABC Sports/NHL))

And all hell may have broken loose for the remaining week of the trade deadline...

This comes with usual "anything can happen" qualifier but multiple sources saying not to expect a Jarome Iginla trade tonight

AM UPDATE: There was some backdoor chatter that the LA Kings would swoop in at the last, but no one would have expected Ray Shero and the Pittsburgh Penguins to do it after the Brendan Morrow and Doug Murray deals...

Of course, except for Ray Shero and the Pittsburgh Penguins...

Iggy goes to the Pens for college forwards Kenneth Agostino and Ben Hanowski and Pittsburgh’s first-round pick at the 2013 draft.

“We as an organization owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to Jarome, not only for what he did for the franchise during his tenure as a player here and as our captain, but also for the fact that now as we recognize that despite our best efforts, and despite the work we’ve put in, we’ve fallen short of the goals we set for ourselves as an organization,” Flames general manager Jay Feaster said in a prepared statement.

All East Carolina University teams will join the soon-to-be ex/former Big East Conference.

Their start date will be July 1, 2014. Initially, ECU was planning on only being a football-only with a gradual roll-in for the other sports. Chancellor Steve Ballard was just waiting on the official word from the conference as to what the new start date would be...

He now has it, and probably, knows what kind of a check he has to cut so he won't be spending a lot of time in court with his ex-conference. The Pirates will continue to play in Conference USA until then.

Bankruptcy lawyers for Sacramento Kings minority owner Bob Cook have agreed to sell his 7 percent stake to Chris Hansen, the investor behind Seattle's effort to buy the franchise, according to News 10 in Sacramento.

The $15.1 million price would give the Seattle group a total of 72 percent. The Maloof brothers, majority owners of the Kings, have previously agreed to sell their 65 percent stake for $525 million pending NBA approval.

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson says other minority owners of the Kings will submit an offer for Cook's stake in the next few days.

There is a "no shop" provision on the Cook-Hansen deal, meaning there can be no other negotiations for the 7 percent pending the bankruptcy judge's ruling. The trustee for Cook's holdings is looking for an April 15-16 hearing date. The NBA Board of Directors meeting where owners will vote on whether the Kings will stay or go is set for a few days later...

The Sacramento and Seattle investor groups make their pitches to the NBA Relocation Committee on April 3rd.

On Tuesday, the Sacramento City Council approved the term sheet for the new arena which is key to any movement keeping the Kings in town...
((HT: News10.net))
News 10 later caught up with a locally-optimistic Cook at Sleep Train to discuss the proposed sale...

We all know just how bent out of shape the Costa Rican national team and their supporters are after the Snow Bowl in Denver and the team's 1-0 loss to the US Men's National Team...

Here's what happened last night during the entrance of the FIFA flag and playing of their hymn as they waited for the match against Jamaica to begin...

FIFA upheld the win, saying the protest by the visitors was not filed correctly. The protest needed to be done immediately and paperwork had to be filed in a certain time frame (two hours after the game). Costa Rica, according to FIFA, filed their protest two days- and not two hours- after the end result.
"The conditions established in the regulations for an official protest have not been met," FIFA said in a statement Tuesday.

With two games remaining in CONCACAF qualifying, Panama, Costa Rica, and the US all have qualified- if the end was today. Honduras would have to win a pay-in game with an Oceania team (probably New Zealand). Mexico needs help having drawn all three games so far.

Georgia Southern, Brother Phil, and all the alumni are heading to the Sun Belt Conference for 2014...
“This is a milestone day for Georgia Southern University, and we are very excited to be joining the Sun Belt conference,” Georgia Southern President Brooks Keel, Ph.D., told a standing room only crowd in the Williams Center during the official announcement. “This decision was made with the long-term interest of our University in mind. The Sun Belt will provide our student athletes with an outstanding opportunity to compete at a highest level, and we are excited to contribute to the conference's success both on and off the field. I am equally excited about the opportunity that it will provide Georgia Southern and the more than 75,000 alumni that make up the Eagle Nation.”

Sun Belt Conference Commissioner Karl Benson was present as President Keel formally accepted the Sun Belt invitation. “We have built our reputation around a focus on the student, and this move will allow us to partner to provide our student athletes with the opportunity to compete on a national stage,” said Georgia Southern Athletics Director Tom Kleinlein. “Today, I invite the entire Eagle Nation to stand up and join us on this journey.”

Georgia Southern joins Georgia State as natural rivals in the new conference. The Panthers first Division I year is this season after spending time getting the feet wet in the Colonial Athletic Association.

65 percent of the GSU student body voted to pay an extra $75 a semester to help fund the move. That fee will be collected starting in the fall. Paulsen Stadium will also add 6,300 additional seats.

It’s a good move by Northwestern, a program that has never played in the NCAA Tournament.

Collins comes from an ultra-highly successful program with similar academics as Northwestern so on the surface this is a perfect fit.Hiring Collins will not guarantee an NCAA Tournament berth for the Wildcats but it gives the players and fans hope when you look at his background.

A pair of former Mike Krzyzewski assistant coaches and former guards for Coach K as well have taken over programs with high academic standards and enjoyed success.

Tommy Amaker coached Harvard into the NCAA Tournament this year and upset New Mexico in the first round screwing up every office pool bracket across the country.

Amaker’s backcourt mate when he played at Duke, Johnny Dawkins has led Stanford to the post-season the last few years.

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

And, believe it or not, he didn't have to move from his current house...

Georgia Tech B-Backs Coach Brian Bohannon stays in his subdivision and cuts his 31-minute ride to work to, probably, ten...

Here's the presser from the introduction from AD Vaughn Williams...
((HT: 11Alive.com/WXIA))

Bohannon claimed he hadn't interviewed for a job in 16 years- and when you follow Paul Johnson from Georgia Southern to Navy to Georgia Tech, you don't necessarily have to... Bohannon had coached in Carrollton and is from Griffin where he played for his dad. So he understands the Georgia athlete and what it takes to keep them.

Vince Dooley- yes, that one- was actually spotted wearing gold and black which probably turned some UGA fans stomachs. But since Dooley was part of the search committee to bring Owls football to Kennesaw, that's why he was dressed that way.

The team won't be around until 2015, but look for them to hook up with the Southern Conference to fill the Georgia Southern void so the conference can keep the Atlanta footprint.

Every once in a while, FOSG Gil Tyree will be dropping his knowledge on all of us as to the events of the day...

First stop...

College hoops...

The Trigger has been pulled on coaching merry go round.

UCLA's firing of Ben Howland leaves Athletic Director Dan Guerrero in a quandary. Does he go for a big name like you did in football by hiring JL Mora? That move seems to have restored some dignity to the football program.

But the Basketball program is a different animal. Do you go big name and try to hire Butler's Brad Stevens (Hard to imagine him leaving Indianapolis because the Bulldogs will become part of the New BIG East and Stevens top assistant Matthew Graves just bolted to replace Ronnie Arrow at South Alabama.

The micro-managing alumni who yearn for the days of the legendary John Wooden want spice and sizzle, aka Shaka Smart.

I would urge Guerrero to talk to Alabama's Mal Moore and see what he did when reached out and hired Nick Saban to run Crimson Tide Nation. Saban's multiple national championships have quieted the Bear Bryant obsessed culture. What Bama is to football, basketball programs like UCLA, Kentucky, North Carolina, Duke, Syracuse, Indiana, and Louisville live in that same world.

Bama seemed to eventually have gotten that hire right. Learning their playbook is key for Guerrero. How about Michigan State Tom Izzo? There is history of Big 10 coaches moving west, Lute Olson left Iowa to go to Arizona, and Bill Frieder left Michigan right at the tournament in 1989 to go to Arizona State. The then Sun Devil AD Charles Harris was admonished by the then Wolverines AD Bo Schembechler, who said he wanted a Michigan man to coach the basketball. Steve Fisher now at San Diego State led a team with stars like Rumeal Robinson, Loy Vaught, and Terry Mills to a National Championship. Could we see another Big 10 coach head West...?

Just sayin'...

You will also hear names like NC State's Mark Gottfried, and Washington's Lorenzo Romar (both served as assistants on UCLA's last National Championship team coached by Jim Harrick).

My darkhorse would be John Groce of Illinois (an up and comer) or somebody currently in the NBA who has had the great success in college. The Brooklyn Nets current interim head coach PJ Carlissimo could be that guy.

As far as March Madness is concerned...

Ratings are 23% higher on CBS/Turner/TBS/TruTV. The Nation right now is IN LOVE with Florida Gulf Coast University, coached by Andy Enfield (even as we speak FGCU hierarchy are trying to increase his base salary package of 157-thousand dollars.

Enfield is self-made millionaire but still to keep him you are going to have to take care of him. He is hot coaching commodity right now along with LaSalle's John Giannini and Wichita State Gregg Marshall, both their teams will meet in the West Regional in Los Angeles.

I met Andy, his former super model wife Amanda (Marcum) with their 3 kids at breakfast while I working for Georgia Public Broadcasting's coverage of GHSA basketball championships. They were staying at the same hotel as we were. They are an AWESOME story. They are REAL people, who exude everything that is right in our society. I wish them, their staff, and players the very best now they are in the Sweet 16. They became the 1st 15 seed to make the Sweet 16. How ironic as that as the NCAA celebrates its 75th anniversary of the Final 4?

Isn't ironic that both UCLA and USC are looking for head coaches at the same time. In the Land of Troy you hear names like Tim Floyd (former Trojans coach now at UTEP, and Gonzaga's Mark Few who is linked to the UCLA opening. I will give you a darkhorse what about George Mason's Paul Hewitt, who before he was at Sienna, Georgia Tech, and Villanova was a one-time assistant for George Raveling at Southern Cal.

Raveling was Hewitt's mentor and is still held in high regard at SC. Good Luck Pat Haden (USC AD). Hewitt will also be linked to a possible opening at Villanova should Jay Wright go to Minnesota now that Tubby Smith is out. The target of Minn AD is Shaka Smart, both worked together at VCU. I would also tell folk Alabama's Anthony Grant could also be in play in the Twin Cities. And then there is Buzz Williams at Marquette. What will his coaching future look like after the Golden Eagles are ousted from the Sweet 16 or Elite 8?

Lots of coaching dominoes will be falling and should be straight by the time the Final 4 rolls to Atlanta or shortly thereafter.

You can add names like Seth Greenberg and Flip Saunders to the coaching dominoes. Both are trying to stay relevant by doing television. They both have the itch to get back into coaching. I think to New Mexico's Steve Alford and Arizona State's Herb Sendek may look to exit their programs as well seeing what has happened to Tubby Smith and Ben Howland. You have some disgruntled and impatient alumni out there these days. It is what have you done for me lately mentality and show me deep tournament runs and National titles.

For those of you who don't know, I am a graduate of Georgia Southern, which recently announced they were moving from FCS (the old 1-AA) to FBS (D-1) Football.

Mind you, I'm no youngin', I was at Southern a long, long time ago. Long enough that the 1st game I saw my school play was as a Division II team in the fall of 1983 at Statesboro High School, their 2nd year of existence.

The coach Erk Russell.

And now my school is what a local Atlanta area radio host called today "Going to Big Boy Football".

Should I be celebrating this? Should I be excited? Should I be relieved?

That's not such an easy answer.

In many ways, it's fun being a bigger fish in a smaller pond. Georgia Southern has won 6 FCS Championships since the program began in 1982. I was there for 2 of them.

The world of College Football is not what it once was. There are essentially two distinct classes. The "Have's" and the "No Chances". By moving to FBS (D-1), we move from one to the other.

There will be no BCS Titles for us.

Sure, we appear to be moving to the Sun Belt Conference, which is the perfect "Entry Level" conference in College Football.

And there is nothing to say if we get real successful against the Louisiana-Lafayette's and Troy's of the world, that we can't move up to a bigger conference.

But we'll never beat Alabama.

Sadly, not in this decade.

Nor the next one.

Maybe, just maybe, we'll catch a couple "Once in a Lifetime" players, make a crazy run, catch a few breaks and get to play in a third tier bowl game.

The "No Chances" in college football, they don't get to play in the Rose Bowl. They don't get to play in the Sugar Bowl, Tostitos Fiesta Bowl or even the Chick-Fil-A Bowl. They get the Motor City Bowl, the Champs Sports Bowl or Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl.

But I suppose that is something.

We'll need the extra money D-1 provides, just to pay for that reward, but I suppose it's worth it.

These days nobody pays attention to the lower levels of NCAA Sports. You aren't on ESPN unless you are in the title game. You aren't won't be on Fox Sports 1 either. You may make it to Comcast Sports South or the Regional Fox Sports Net, but that's it.

But you have to make the move.

Georgia Southern outgrew FCS (1-AA) many years ago. But we never could afford to make the move. Playing "Big Boy" football costs a lot of money these days. Sure, if you have a $20 million a year TV contract, you can afford the big travel budget and to pick and choose your opponents.

But not us.

Fly high, you Georgia Southern Eagle, I for one, am very proud of you. Make the move, do what's necessary, GATA and introduce the world to the magical waters of Beautiful Eagle Creek.

Look out BCS, we're gunnin' for ya!~

No, we'll be the ones playing Alabama or LSU on Homecoming, we'll be the ones playing Ohio State or Michigan when they need a breather week. We'll lose.

We may fatten up on the other Sun Belt teams, and hopefully that will happen. If we are lucky, the Sun Belt will expand to 12-football teams and we'll make it to the conference championship.

And then....if we are REALLY lucky, we'll win the conference championship and go to a Bowl game.

((espn.com))
So, the "Go big or go home strategy" may have worked after all.

According to a report Tuesday afternoon by Brett McMurphy of ESPN.com, College Football's new national championship game appears to be headed for JerryWorld--Cowboys Stadium for those unfamiliar with the lingo.

That game will be played January 12, 2015 in the 100,000-plus seat temple of everything excessive.

Yes, 2015.

Oh, by the way, McMurphy says for what its worth only Tampa, Florida and JerryWorld made bids.

For those unfamiliar, the BCS Cartel goes away after the upcoming College Football season. After that, we change to a 4-team playoff. And yes, there is a LOT of money involved.

And though JerryWorld gets game #1, there's no guarantee they get any others. But what a "Big" start.

We've railed on many a time about the gross inequalities in college football and this continues the trend. Don't mistake though, we love the game, we just hate the greed and pure money grabbing that's gone along with it.

You'll see one of about 15 teams in every college football championship game from here until forever, or until the Lords of the BCS realize they can make bazillions more with an even bigger playoff system.

“What's shown on YouTube is very one-sided,” he said. “The lady doing the filming fails to show the first five or 10 minutes of what escalated to our people going over.”

LaForme said Tweed fans were unruly and had been drinking in the parking lot prior to the afternoon game and harassing gestures and comments were made toward Six Nations players and fans throughout the game.

The provincial police are looking to talk to witnesses and know the tape exists...

Sources close to one end of the situation in Statesboro tell OSG Sports and social media from the Winston-Salem Journal newspaper have both schools, rivals in the Southern Conference, pursuing the same in the Sun Belt Conference.

With FAU, FIU, Middle Tennessee, and North Texas moving to Conference USA, the new dynamic of the 10-team conference would be: App State, Arkansas State, Ga Southern, Ga State, Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisiana-Monroe, South Alabama, Texas State, Troy, and Western Kentucky.

This would also fall in line with the announcement being made introducing Brian Bohannon as Kennesaw State's new football coach for their fledgling program tomorrow morning on campus north of Atlanta. The SoCon is looking for members if the move of two of their heavy hitters is to happen and Kennesaw keeps their Atlanta footprint.

Here's how Southern ended their season...
((HT: EaglesGATA))

Southern voted for a fee increase to fund any kind of upgrade, so it was a matter of time...

1600 UPDATE: Matt Yogus at the Statesboro Herald is confirming from sources on his end as well...

2100 UPDATE:Dennis Dodd over at CBS Sports adds that former WAC members Idaho and New Mexico State will be added in 2014 as well. This will give the new Sun Belt 12 teams and will allow for a two-division, playoff structure.

With the new playoff set-up, if the Sun Belt champ finishes as the highest rated team among the Group of Five conferences (the Sun Belt, Conference USA, the new Big East, Mountain West and MAC) it will get a berth in one of the new playoff bowls when the new post-season look starts.

The Gophers had signed Smith to a three-year extension through the 2016-17 season in July.

He is making close to $2 million annually, with a $600,000 base salary plus 5 percent annual raises back-dated to 2008 and "supplemental compensation" of $1.2 million.

Smith's language in his contract says that if he's gone before April 30, 2016 (which he now is), the university pays one-half of his base salary and supplemental compensation for the remainder of the deal- not to exceed $2.5 million.

The Gophers finished 21-13 (8-10 in the Big 10/12)...

And, now, the new AD Norwood Teague (formerly of VCU) probably will pursue his old coach Shaka Smart to be the new BMOC.

For the second week in a row, Joey Logano has created some angst and agita at the end of a NASCAR event...

This time it was created with Tony Stewart at the restart at the end of the race at Fontucky...
Both made it over the finish line (in various pieces), but when they both made it to pit road Stewart had had enough...

He'd had all he can stands and can't stands no more...
Punches were thrown... and the HQ sides with Stewart in this one...

Oh, the 18 car won and Dale Junior finished second...
No word on whether or not the 14 and 22 are heading to the Big Red Truck at present...

More when we know more...

Here's another version of the fight with some Steve Byrnes-ian post edited in...

Formula One Racing is known for its politicking, racers who drive in teams and tandem- and are forced to deal with office politics more than the average bear when it comes to getting the job done...

Happened again in the Malaysian Grand Prix today half a world away...

It looked like Team Red Bull was going to finish one-two with Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel, but according to Vettel, no one told him that he was going to finish second. He passed Webber and finished first...

Much to the anger of everyone on both teams...

Here's the apologetic Vettel...

Here's an angry Webber...

"I made a big mistake today and we should have stayed in the position. I messed up in that situation and took the lead from Mark and can see now he is upset. Apologies to Mark. The result is there and all I can say is that I didn't do it deliberately."

Strangely enough the same thing happened to decide third and fourth with Mercedes. Lewis Hamilton was third and the team told Nico Rosburg not to pass- he didn't...

After starting out 6-1 in the regular season, the Tampa Bay Lightning hit the skids...

And that means that head coach Guy Boucher is no longer the head coach...

Post start, the team went 6-16-1...

"Guy has poured his heart and soul into the Lightning organization for these past three years and we appreciate all the work he has done," said GM Steve Yzerman upon making the announcement. "But ultimately I am not satisfied with the direction we are heading and I believe making a change today is in the best interest of our franchise."

The Lightning are 14th in the Eastern Conference and rumors have former Buffalo Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff as the leader in the clubhouse to take over full-time. Yzerman hired Ruff as an Assistant Coach for Team Canada's 2010 Olympic Team. Assistants Martin Raymond and Dan Lacroix will share coaching responsibilities in the short-term...

Saturday, March 23, 2013

FOSG Gil Tyree is reporting that UCLA has wasted no time(one year later than expected) in firing head men's coach Ben Howland...

The season, that started with so much promise- and a lot of incoming, highly-touted freshmen- ended with a thud when Minnesota took care of the Bruins in one of those 6-11 games in the first round of the In-Cee-Aay-Aay tournament...

The LA Times Bill Plaschke, when he asked Howland after the 83-63 loss as to whether or not he asked his last game as Bruins coach, got the standard "no comment" yesterday.

Howland will have missed the third round of the tourney for the fifth straight year. But not having Jordan Adams for the post-season tourney was huge and forced conventional wisdom to turn to Tubby Smith as the favorite in the first round match-up.

Marc Spears and Jeff Eisenberg say that an announcement could come in the next 48 hours and that Howland has been told that he's been fired. Assistant Korey McCray, the AAU-connected coach that was mostly responsible for bringing in Tony Parker, Kyle Anderson, and Jordan Allen, could be staying for the interim.

Costa Rica plans to file an official protest with FIFA about Friday's 1-0 loss to the US, according to Reuters...

Here's the highlights... the snowy highlights...and the reason for the idea of the protest...

A Costa Rica soccer federation official said that the protest would be made Saturday. Costa Rica has 24 hours to file a written protest with FIFA according to rules of engagement...

Ten minutes into the second half (or the 3:25 mark on the tape), Costa Rica coach Jorge Luis Pinto wanted the referee and match commissioner to suspend the game, but U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann made a case for playing on. Play continued and Pinto was angry during and after the game.

"I asked them to stop. They should suspend the ref," Pinto said. "It was an embarrassment. It was an insult to Costa Rica and people coming in here." Pinto said the "legal conditions" for playing were not met, according to Reuters.

"Honestly, it was robbery, a disgrace, I've never played a game in these conditions," Costa Rican midfielder Cristian Bolanos told Reuters. "You couldn't see the ball ... if we had played without snow, we would have won, I am sure."

The points are huge for US Soccer and the three points are integral in the quest to get to Rio and 2014's World Cup...
Analysis below...
((HT: ESPN))

A 15, a 13, a 10, and an 11... to add to all the 12's that won...
Usually, the way the tournament works is that if one day is calm, the other one is a mess...

Friday was a mess...

FOSG Gil Tyree warned the world about Florida Gulf Coast since, of all things, FGCU was hanging out at the GPB Sports hotel during the Atlantic Sun Tournament/GHSA Basketball Championships. He commiserated with them and, apparently, knew what a lot of us didn't... that they could knock off a 2-seed...

LaSalle knocked off Boise in the First Four in Dayton and got Kansas State...
Kansas State got an eyeful of the Explorers... LaSalle got a big lead, blew it late, and held on at the end...
((HT: TruTV/NCAA))

Iowa State knocked off Notre Dame and it wasn't even close...
The HQ thinks the Irish deserved it for breaking out the neon green on national television...
Jack Cooley and Pat Connaughton called it "embarrassing."

Maybe so...
((HT: NCAA.com/CBS))

And, surprising no one, when UCLA was going to be missing Jordan Allen the HQ knew the Bruins were in trouble...
They were... Tubby Smith and Minnesota were their standard amount of trouble makers...
An 11 knocks off a 6...
By 20...
((HT: NCAA.com/TruTV))

Friday, March 22, 2013

A month before the Auburn University spring game and the last time that the community will be able to roll Toomer's Oaks before their removal, Harvey Updyke has taken a plea deal in the poisoning of the trees with Spike 80-DF.

As a result, Updyke will be sentenced to three years in jail- entering a plea of guilty to Criminal Damage to an Agriculture Facility, a class C felony, but he should remain in jail for a period at least six months.

After his release, Updyke will be under supervised probation for five years, he will be required to stick to a 7PM curfew, and he can't attend any college sporting event. He is also banned from going to anything "Auburn"- not that they would let him into anything in the first place...

He is also under a media gag order...
And that will be interesting as to whether or not he'll stick to that one...

Restitution costs have not yet been determined, Lee County (AL) District Attorney Robbie Treese said at a press conference. But he added that whatever the cost is, it will be doubled under the Alabama Farm Animal, Crop and Research Facilities Protection Act.

Kinda like an anti-trust case...

"We have a significant number of violent felonies awaiting trial in Lee County," DA Treese said, "and I could not in good conscience justify financing a three week trial merely to arrive at no better a resolution."

And if your bracket was full before this game, odds are it's not in place now.

Tournament heel Marshall Henderson started out the game going 3-for-17 from the field, but Ole Miss went on a run and closed out Wisconsin 57-46. A lot of people (whoever "people" are- commonly confused with "conventional wisdom") think that Ole Miss out Wisconsined-Wisconsin...

If that makes any sense...

FOSG Beau Estes has the highlights

It's the Rebels first tournament win since 2002, but it's the first time in four years that three of the four #12-seeds advanced over their 5th-seeded counterparts...

The highlight of the evening to many: A Fight/Dance featuring a fight between Buffalo's John Scott and Toronto's Frazer McLaren who "Oh, by the way" have some history together. The undercard featured Colton Orr of Toronto and Patrick Kaleta of the Sabres.

That was triggered after Orr cross-checked Kaleta with his stick on a face-off.

For those who jumped on the New Mexico bandwagon and had the Lobos taking a deep tournament run in your office bracket pools all you can say Friday morning is "Damn."

Harvard provided the first big shocking upset as the 14 seed Crimson upset the three seed Lobos 68-62.

So much for New Mexico being the chic sexy pic to go to the Final Four. Instead it was "Crimson and Over" for the Lobos.

"People were picking us to do this and that and I thought our focus was a little off and I thought Harvard did a lot of things to take advantage of that." New Mexico head coach Steve Alford said after the game.

And Alford just got a new 10 year contract. The new agreement announced by the University on Wednesday includes a $125,000 bonus should the Lobos reach the Final Four. I hope you haven't put that deposit down on a new pool for your family coach Alford (Christmas Vacation reference.)

"We were kind of sleepwalking and got smacked," New Mexico associate head coach Craig Neal said.

New Mexico shot 37 percent in the game, 37 percent!

Harvard's bigs were in major foul trouble midway through the second half yet the Lobos could not put the dagger in the hearts of the Crimson.

Your only hope for your office pools is that everyone else drank the Lobo coolaid and it's a wash.

So much for the darlings of the Mountain West Conference.

As for Harvard, this is the biggest win in program history. The Crimson's first NCAA Tournament victory.

Third Seeded Marquette topped off a furious finish beating 14th Seed Davidson 59-58 on a last second layup by guard Vander Blue (yes, that's his name)

The Golden Eagles trailed Davidson most of the game and were down by 6 with less than 6 minutes to go. Blue and Jamil Wilson got Marquette within one with 5 seconds left. Davidson followed with a turnover.

That's when Blue went to work, driving to his left, he swept by his defender, laying the ball high over the rim for the game winner as the buzzer went off.

Marquette moves on in the East Region, they'll play Butler on Saturday.

It has to do with athletes drinking while underage on a school-sponsored trip and also being fingered by others for smoking Spice- a form of synthetic marijuana...

Which reminds the HQ of this...
((HT: Dino DeLaurentiis Productions))

The numbers 18 of the 25 were drinking and two were tattled on for the smoking...

So, how did people become aware of the actions of the soccer team... social media...
Which reminds the HQ of this...
((HT: ESPN))

Greenbrier played for the Class 4A title last year in the GHSA against Lambert High School...
((HT: PlayOn!Sports))

And with only seven varsity players available, the 2nd-ranked team in 5A (this year, because of reclassification) was supposed to play top-ranked McIntosh this weekend. So much for that high-quality match-up...

“We may allow any of those who did admit to go ahead and waive their rights to a hearing and we will place them immediately in the alternative school so they don’t miss any school time,” Columbia County School Superintendent Charles Nagle said at a press conference.

Sac Kings forward DeMarcus Cousins can be rather, how should the HQ say this, "emotionally involved" with his on-court play. But when Kings play-by-play guy and Sacramento sports talk show host Grant Napear may have said some disparaging things on his show... Cousins remembered...

And finally got his opportunity the other night to respond to a perceived slight...
Evidence below...

There is also chatter that Cousins said a nasty word after he was out of mic range, but the HQ will wait for independent confirmation on that...

We have to mention it, partially because everyone else is and partially, well, because it's actually starting to become historic.

The Miami Heat, the most loaded team in NBA history has finally grown into the team everyone expected them to be. After all, they have 3 of the Top 10 or so players in the league (LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh) and now finally have found a pretty good supporting cast.

The Heat have now won 24 games in a row. Game 24 was won after the Cleveland Cavaliers jumped out to a 27-point lead midway through the 3rd Quarter. The Heat ended up winning by 3, 98-95.

For those of you not versed in NBA history, the record for most wins in a row in the NBA--the Los Angeles Lakers in 1972. That team won 33-games in a row.

The investigation does not include anything with Bernie Fine, but does include Melo and an assault alleged from 2007 involving three players. The school has been investigated in the last year, but apparently, business has just picked up...

From Dodd:

The ongoing investigation has apparently grown larger in scope. When asked to characterize how wide-ranging the probe might be, a source with knowledge of the case told CBSSports.com: “Throw a dart at the [NCAA] Manual [and you would hit a violation by Syracuse]."

And that doesn't sound nice...

Here's comments from Jim Boeheim...

The HQ anticipated they'd be short and/or contentious...
Syracuse plays Montana in the opening round of the In-Cee-Aay-Aay tourney...

The University of Alabama announced today that Mal Moore is stepping down today from his position as athletic director and will only focus on being special assistant to President Judy Bonner.

Moore, you'll remember, was hospitalized last week- both at Brookwood Hospital in Birmingham and Duke University.

"I cannot adequately express what the University means to me," Moore said in a press release. "It has been a part of my life for more than 50 years, and I feel honored to have served the Crimson Tide as a player, coach and administrator. I am so appreciative of the University administration, coaches, staff, student-athletes and fans who have made my tenure as director so very meaningful, memorable and special."

Moore played at Alabama under "Bear" Bryant, and also served as an assistant coach under him.

Here's an interview Moore did with WVUA's John Huddleston about his legacy and other topics...

If was off the air after Gill got into a rather-heated discussion with B1G Ten Network analyst Tim Doyle over the following observation from last night's Bulls-Nuggets game...
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Gill has been temporarily removed from the show, "Sports Talk Live," until everything is examined in due course.

"We're looking further into the incident that took place in our newsroom earlier today," said CSN Chicago news director Kevin Cross in a statement. "Until the investigation is complete, Kendall Gill will not be appearing on our air."

The new Big East Conference has a TV partner and three new schools to join the Catholic 7.

Butler and Xavier have informed the muckety mucks at the Atlantic 10 Conference they are withdrawing to join the new Big East.

“I wish Xavier University and Butler University all the best in their new conference." A-10 commissioner Bernadette McGlade said Wednesday in a statement released by the conference. "Xavier’s departure is unfortunate. Butler’s departure is a by-product of the chaotic conference realignment environment. BU’s association with the A-10 has been a fun ride this year; no regrets from the Atlantic 10 for providing a home for them during the 2012-13 season."

Creighton leaves the Missouri Valley Conference, the Blue Jays home since 1977.

Here's the announcement of Creighton's withdrawal from the MVC by University President the Rev. Timothy Lannon.

Those three join former original Big East members St. John's, Seton Hall, De­Paul, Georgetown, Marquette, Providence and Villanova to form the basketball centric conference July, 1st.

Most importantly the new Big East has a media partner with Fox Sports. Here's that announcement.

The A-10 can absorb the loss of Butler and Xavier, still many good teams in large media markets in that conference.

Creighton has been the big dog in the MVC the last few years. The Valley will remain one of the best mid-majors in college basketball. Wichita State is a solid program and no doubt will fill the void on the national scene left by Xavier.